Jack Johnson recorded an assist in the Penguins' 5-3 win against Boston on Friday.

Johnson ended his 11-game point slump. He has a goal and seven points in 31 contests in 2018-19. Although he was a significant offensive contributor earlier in his career, Johnson doesn't have much fantasy value in standard leagues anymore. Sat, Dec 15, 2018 06:36:00 AM

Jack Johnson said his team went into prevent defense during Monday's 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

The Penguins held a 4-1 lead in the second period, but they watched that evaporate in a hurry. "You can’t go into a prevent defense," Johnson said. "That usually prevents winning. We have to do a better job of staying after them." The Pens are now 1-7-2 in their last 10 games, and they currently sit in the basement of the Eastern Conference standings. It's been a shocking first quarter of the season for Pittsburgh. Tue, Nov 20, 2018 10:31:00 AM

Jack Johnson registered an assist in a 2-1 loss to Washington Wednesday night.

Johnson has a goal and three points in 14 games this season. He set a career-high in 2014-15 with 40 points, but nowadays he's not much of a factor offensively and that's unlikely to change. Thu, Nov 8, 2018 05:00:00 AM

Jake Guentzel posted two assists with a plus-1 rating in Saturday's 7-3 road loss against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Win or lose, Guentzel continues to be very productive for the Pens. He has managed eight goals with 13 points across nine contests in the month of January, including two power-play goals and two assists on the man advantage. He has been consistent with at least 13 points in each of his past three months. The Pens are off until after the All-Star break, returning Jan. 28 against the New Jersey Devils.

It was thought that the Penguins winger busted his right hand as he landed a haymaker at the end of his fight with Colton Sceviour Tuesday but he was in a cast on his left hand Friday when he showed up in Anaheim. Aston-Reese has six goals and 11 points in 30 games with 16 penalty minutes.

Phil Kessel picked up the game-winning tally in overtime Friday night against the Arizona Coyotes.

Kessel has picked up two goals with five points on the four-game road trip, including a pair of game-winning tallies. It hasn't been all great, however, as he has a minus-6 rating during the span, and he is even or negative in the category in all eight of his games in the month of January. Next up is a battle against the Golden Knights in Vegas on Saturday. He had a hat trick in the first battle with the Knights back on Oct. 11 in the Steel City.

Patric Hornqvist (concussion) will return to the lineup on Saturday night against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Hornqvist was listed as a game-time decision and took warmups alongside Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel. The Swedish winger is listed on the official NHL roster report and will play in his first game since Jan. 8.

Bryan Rust scored a couple of goals in Tuesday’s 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers.

The Penguins scored two goals in the opening 3:03 of the hockey game, with Rust getting the second after putting a nice forehand, backhand move on Roberto Luongo. Pittsburgh then got a couple of shorthanded goals in the second period courtesy of both Rust and Riley Sheahan, ending Luongo's night in goal. Rust broke a six-game goalless drought with his first goal and his second was also his 100th career point. The 26-year-old winger has 11 goals and 21 points in 42 games this season.

Justin Schultz (ankle) should be back in the Pittsburgh lineup in the first or second week of February.

He is expected to return by the middle of the month but it could be a few days earlier than that. The defenseman is skating and practicing with the team, albeit, with a non-contact jersey at this time. Schultz was injured on October 13 with a fractured lower left leg/ankle. He had four points in four games but don't expect him to continue that pace as the Penguins will bring him back slowly.

Marcus Pettersson was scoreless with a dismal minus-3 rating in 18:29 of ice time across 27 shifts in Tuesday's 5-2 loss at San Jose.

Pettersson was able to make up for his ugly offensive night with two blocked shots and four hits to give his fantasy owners something. The defenseman has managed no goals and 13 assists with a plus-12 rating across 48 games with the Ducks and Penguins this season. He also has contributed with 45 hits and 57 blocked shots to help those in deeper fantasy pools.

Murray rebounded nicely after taking a loss in San Jose on Tuesday, his first in 10 starts since returning from a lower-body injury. The Penguins have a quick turnaround, traveling to Vegas on Saturday to battle old pal Marc-Andre Fleury and the Golden Knights. It's possible Casey DeSmith gets the nod after Murray worked overtime on Friday.

Casey DeSmith coughed up six goals on 34 shots in Saturday's 7-3 road loss against the Vegas Golden Knights.

DeSmith has had an ugly three outings in the month of January, going 0-3-0 with a 4.81 goals-against average and .841 save percentage. His starts are likely to be few and far between once the All-Star break passes, as long as Matt Murray can stay healthy. The Penguins do not face another back-to-back situation until Feb. 1-2 against Ottawa and at Toronto.

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